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[FK in the Coffee]

Idk, I really like the whole “variations on a theme” motif this game has. It's a really interesting practice in minimilism, and I find the constraints make the game much more focused, and almost zen-like imo

[ProgramGamer]

Yeah, well I already really hate it. Between the fluctuating framerate and resolution (because yes, the resolution changes dynamically to accommodate for shitty computers) and the puzzles that I could not understand for the life of me, I found myself unable to have a good time. This is one game I'm not playing again.

[Armageddon]

So I got about halfway through and decided I have better things to do so I used a walkthrough. Paid $40 gonna see all that art. No spoilers but the ending sucked, felt like a big fuck you, even for someone like me that put in half effort. Funny thing is I can't get the second ending (I'm assuming there's a second) cause the game is so hard no walkthrough is complete yet.

So this tape is weird. I remember the ending the first time you hear it but the full thing is kind of bizarre and it seems like Jonathan Blow is quoting himself.

Also this totally should have played out the game:





BTW (semi-spoiler) the video files really caught me off guard and visually were very beautiful. I've never felt something quite like that in a game. Regardless, the messages in most of them were pretty terrible imo. I think I only enjoyed two of them really.

Okay there is a second ending and it's also really dumb. Is this a joke?

[s0]

(because yes, the resolution changes dynamically to accommodate for shitty computers)

hahahaha wat a heck

[ProgramGamer]

Yeah, that was really jarring for me. Made the game really nauseating too.

[gimymblert]

(because yes, the resolution changes dynamically to accommodate for shitty computers)

hahahaha wat a heck

It's actually common practice in games, WW on wiiU does this too

[ProgramGamer]

I've never seen this done until now, and it's not fun. I kinda wish I had a better computer too.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

(because yes, the resolution changes dynamically to accommodate for shitty computers)

hahahaha wat a heck

Actually happens way more commonly than you would think. Tons of games do this. Especially on console.

[s0]

such as?

[gimymblert]

"dynamic resolution"

halo 5
Star ocean 5
witcher 3
killzone
wipeout
doom3 bfg edition

[Schoq]

why drop frames when you can drop pixels

[joseph ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

hey the witness is still really good

fuck the audio puzzled tho.

[Photon]

http://kotaku.com/five-years-ago-jonathan-blow-knew-just-what-the-witnes-1755777462

The video is an interesting one; don't let the splash pic caption fool you. I think he actually explains rather well why I don't like puzzle games much anymore.

Bearing that last statement in mind, I don't have any immediate plans to shell out the $40 for this one.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

such as?

halo 5 is one I was actually just looking at yesterday. It can drop to 800 width.

EDIT : There's also of course the standard method of having some of your render passes at fractions of the final resolution that are then scaled up to match the final render target but many passes don't have much visual difference at a lower resolution so it doesn't really matter.

[quantumpotato]

Has anyone tried

1) The konami code
2) Drawing on your shadow

[J-Snake]

http://kotaku.com/five-years-ago-jonathan-blow-knew-just-what-the-witnes-1755777462

Unfortunately, this is an example for "talk the talk but not walk the walk". I agree with the key points in this vid but when I am playing the game they aren't reflected. A lot of puzzles are based on weak disjointed abstractions, like literal line-patterns in shadows. They are not powerful concepts but messy child-level of thinking with little intellectual reward(some people might be fine with that and it is ok if they enjoy it). And then the more challenging puzzles are rather achieved by "hacked-in" rules, and not by a clean efficient rule set that can generate diverse challenges by its own.

I agree that adventure games lack clarity. However with Myst you at least got a more interesting adventure. But with this game you get a weak adventure and also a weak puzzle game. Personally, I see more value in focusing and do at least one thing right.

[quantumpotato]

http://kotaku.com/five-years-ago-jonathan-blow-knew-just-what-the-witnes-1755777462

Unfortunately, this is an example for "talk the talk but not walk the walk". I agree with the key points in this vid but when I am playing the game they aren't reflected. A lot of puzzles are based on weak disjointed abstractions, like literal line-patterns in shadows. They are not powerful concepts but messy child-level of thinking with little intellectual reward(some people might be fine with that and it is ok if they enjoy it). And then the more challenging puzzles are rather achieved by "hacked-in" rules, and not by a clean efficient rule set that can generate diverse challenges by its own.

I agree that adventure games lack clarity. However with Myst you at least got a more interesting adventure. But with this game you get a weak adventure and also a weak puzzle game. Personally, I see more value in focusing and do at least one thing right.

Some of the puzzles do feel easy mode. That said, a few have stumped me and I think the game does something interesting in regards to teaching the player its language (insert quote about "games should be a tutorial always teaching".. forget where I first heard this but heard lot of designer interviews talk about this).

I disagree with you about "weak disjointed abstractions". I'm thinking of the forest temple when you talk about the lines in shadows. I thought it was cool how the trees are shown, then you do puzzles with the trees, then you realize you use their shadows to solve the next thing. It's just a (non-so) secret.

That said.. at least 1 of those forest tree shadow puzzles I swore I followed the shadows.. and the correct solution was a slightly different alignment. That felt slightly arbitrary (could have been more explicit with the shadows) and frustrating.

I do think the game is doing something interesting tying its core mechanic (drawing lines through mazes) to the "story" of unlocking new areas - the mechanics are a miniature more detailed version of the over-arching process. I find it interesting the game makes a core puzzle mechanic its mechanic in the context of an adventure game, as opposed to just puzzle to puzzle.

Weather the game hit the points in that video is subjective, but I think they at least made a good effort. If you disagree I am curious, how would you have done the Witness, assuming the core concept of solving mazes?

[Dragonmaw]

j-snake has already created a superior version of the witness, at least according to his own principles

[jeremiah]

I'm really afraid the narrative conceit is gonna be art is pointless, science objectivity = best. That'd be rich coming from an art game.

Funny you say this. I was really struck by a specific part that said something very similar and my immediate reaction was like yours.

Minor spoiler:

There's an in-game video you can watch of a James Burke program. It's from the video here starting at 44:00
"
"At best the products of human emotion: art, philosophy, politics, music, literature are interpretations of the world that tell you more about the guy who is talking than the about the world he's talking about. Second hand views of the world made third hand my your interpretation of them."

Anyway, I beat the game today. It's an absolutely beautiful game. The island, while always seeming to me to be a bit tacky when viewed from overhead, is so wonderful to explore on the ground level.

The game really is an epiphany producing machines. It gives you vague or sometimes even misleading notions about what various symbols mean. Much later, it guides you to figuring these errors out one by one. So it does the job. I did feel like this class of puzzle was quite separate from the environmental puzzles. Often they felt repetitive and at other times arbitrary.

The biggest letdown is the total lack of story. The world really begs for an explanation. But you're constantly reminded that you're not really a character in a world that has its own backstory. No, you're just a player playing a video game made by Jonathan Blow and friends. Nothing to see here.

There was a part immediately before the end "cutscene." That area, the puzzles there, the subtle music. It was sublime. I kind of wish the game had ended right there.

[Razz]

man whatever you think about the puzzles or story in this game, the island's design is simply brilliant. not even from a level design perspective, but an artistic one as well. it's gorgeous, not a single part of it feels pointless and everything connects in a clear logical way. I love it